Young Geographer of the Year winners announced

Last Friday, we came together at the Society to celebrate this year’s Young Geographer of the Year competition, and to announce the winning entries.

Through the competition, which encourages young people to think creatively and analytically about geographical themes, the Society recognises the outstanding work of the next generation of geographers each year.

The theme for 2025 was Understanding islands, which invited students to explore islands and highlight the geographical themes, challenges and solutions that connect across both human and physical geography to make islands unique.   

With schools hosting their own heats and submitting only their winners, the 1250 entries received by the Society represented just a fraction of the overall number of participating students.

The judges were looking for eye catching, creative and informative posters and StoryMaps that delved into the socio-economic, cultural, political and physical aspects of a range of islands. They selected 16 young people for recognition, with two winners and two highly commended entries selected for each age category. 

The winning and highly commended students who submitted outstanding entries were presented with their certificates by Alan Parkinson at a ceremony held at the Society.

The category winners

KS2 (7-11 years)

Amaryllis Thomas, Walhampton School

Labiqa Babar, John Burns Primary School  

KS3 (11-14 years)

Kitt Sutton, Ponteland High School  

Anaiya Patel, Northwood College for Girls 

KS4 (14-16 years)

Alex Willett, The High School Leckhampton

Gemma Davies, Bristol Grammar School 

A Level or equivalent (16-18 years)

Vivan Paul, Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet

Ines Wall, Kings InterHigh Online School  

Professor Joe Smith, Director of the Society said: “I'd like to give my warmest congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who entered this year’s Young Geographer of the Year competition. Islands, including the one we live on, are uniquely affected by climate change, but they also have unique opportunities to address these challenges. The high standard of entries we received across this year’s competition gives me confidence that the next generation of geographers is already asking the right questions about the issues facing island communities and how these can teach us about the wider world.”

The Rex Walford Award, which runs alongside Young Geographer of the Year, recognises early-career teachers, either completing their training or in their first years in the classroom. This year's winner was Emelia Welch from Marling School.

Alan Parkinson, the Society’s Vice President for Education said: “Geography teachers are fundamental to developing pupils' knowledge and inspiring curiosity about the world around them. Practical schemes of work, like the one we’ve recognised Emelia for, empower students to look closer at the geographical factors shaping communities around the world and think more critically about how they can tackle their shared challenges.”

The Young Geographer of the Year competition and the Rex Walford Award is run by the Society in conjunction with Geographical magazine and is kindly supported by Esri UK, Ordnance Survey and Philip’s Atlases.

The full list of winners and highly commended pupils and their entries to Young Geographer of the Year 2025 is on our website.

Browse winning entries